Taliban tell NATO – get out by September 11 or be treated as ‘occupying forces’

The Taliban has warned NATO to get its troops out by September 11 or be treated as ‘occupying forces’ as the terror group continues its sweep across the country. 

The last US troops are expected to leave within days but reports say that an 1,000-strong force could remain on the ground to protect diplomatic missions and Kabul’s airport.

They could be joined by an ‘advisory group’ of British Special Forces soldiers amid fears that the country will ‘implode’ under the weight of the Taliban. An MoD source told MailOnline that Britain remained committed to supporting the Afghan army.  

Joe Biden‘s symbolic exit date to mark 20 years since 9/11 – which sparked the invasion – has been axed by NATO over fears that the jihadists are rapidly filling the power vacuum left throughout the hinterland and marching ever closer to the cities.

Terror chief Suhail Shaheen said that seizing Kabul was ‘not Taliban policy,’ but warned that no foreign troops should remain in the capital after September 11 because it might force them to ‘react.’ 

More than 1,000 Afghan troops fled across the northern border into neighbouring Tajikistan on Monday after fighting with the resurgent jihadists.

The exodus of troops followed another weekend of fighting across much of the northern countryside where the Taliban have overrun dozens of districts, spurring fears that Afghan forces are in crisis. 

Speaking to the BBC from the Taliban’s Qatar HQ, Shaheen said: ‘If [NATO] leave behind their forces against the Doha agreement then in that case it will be the decision of our leadership how we proceed.

‘We would react and the final decision is with our leadership.’

He claimed that the terror group would not target any embassies, diplomats or foreign charity workers.

‘We will not pose any threat to them,’ Shaheen added.

He also hailed the US withdrawal from Bagram airfield last week, once America’s main fortress in Afghanistan, as an ‘historic moment.’

It comes amid concerns from a Tory MP that leaving Afghanistan is ‘a major strategic mistake.’

Tom Tugenhadt, who served in Helmand province, told the BBC on Saturday: ‘What we’re demonstrating very publicly, very clearly, to many different adversaries, and indeed sadly also to allies, is that the US and her allies won’t stay.

‘Now if you don’t have the ability to persist you can forget about influencing others. Nobody will care what you think if you’re not going to be there tomorrow.

‘What you’re doing by withdrawing is you’re encouraging enemies and you’re dissuading allies – that’s dangerous.’ 

However, British Special Forces will remain in the country with Boris Johnson expected to make a final decision today at a meeting of the National Security Council, according to The Telegraph.

An SAS soldier who recently returned from the country told the paper that its role would be to ‘provide training to Afghan units and deploy with them on the ground as advisers’.

He added: ‘It’s not a pleasant place at the moment, people are scared and rightly so.

‘The Taliban control the countryside and are just waiting for the coalition to leave. They are making it [clear] at every opportunity that their peace is with the coalition and not the Afghan government. The country will implode.’

An MOD Spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘As agreed by NATO Foreign and Defence Ministers, the withdrawal of Resolute Support Mission forces, including those of the UK under Op TORAL, will be complete within a few months.

‘The UK is involved in ongoing discussions with US and international allies regarding the future of our support to Afghanistan.’

On Sunday, the Taliban captured another area of southern Kandahar and announced further gains in Helmand, provinces where the blood of hundreds of US and British troops was spilled over the last two decades. 

In the north, Afghan forces fled across the border into Tajikistan as the Taliban advanced into several districts.  

More than 300 Afghan military personnel crossed from Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province as Taliban fighters advanced toward the border, Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security said in a statement. The Afghan troops crossed over at about 6.30pm local time Saturday 

The Taliban now control roughly a third of all 421 districts and district centres in Afghanistan.

The gains in northeastern Badakhshan province in recent days have mostly come to the insurgent movement without a fight, said Mohib-ul Rahman, a provincial council member. He blamed Taliban successes on the poor morale of troops who are mostly outnumbered and without resupplies.

‘Unfortunately, the majority of the districts were left to Taliban without any fight,’ said Rahman. In the last three days, 10 districts fell to Taliban, eight without a fight, he said.

Hundreds of Afghan army, police and intelligence troops surrendered their military outposts and fled to the Badakhshan provincial capital of Faizabad, said Rahman.

Even as a security meeting was being held early Sunday to plot the strengthening of the perimeter around the capital, some senior provincial officials were leaving Faizabad for the capital Kabul, he said.

In late June the Afghan government resurrected militias with a reputation of brutal violence to support the beleaguered Afghan forces but Rahman said many of the militias in the Badakhshan districts put up only a half-hearted fight.

The areas under Taliban control in the north are increasingly strategic, running along Afghanistan’s border with central Asian states. Last month the religious movement took control of Imam Sahib, a town in Kunduz province opposite Uzbekistan and gained control of a key trade route.

The inroads in Badakhshan are particularly significant as it is the home province of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was killed by a suicide bomber in 2011. His son, Salahuddin Rabbani, is part of the current High Council for National Reconciliation. The slain former president also led Afghanistan’s Jamiat-e-Islami, which was the party of famed anti-Taliban fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud, killed by a suicide bomber two days before the 9/11 attacks in America.

The Interior Ministry issued a statement Saturday saying the defeats were temporary although it was not clear how they would regain control.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the fall of the districts and said most were without a fight. The Taliban in previous surrenders have shown video of Afghan soldiers taking transportation money and returning to their homes.